The Humor of Horror

Today’s episode of Sounds of Cinema kicked off the month-long Halloween theme with a look at movies that combine humor and horror. Here is a recap of some of the films discussed this hour as well as some additional titles.

The Addams Family
1991’s The Addams Family was a very good example of successfully adapting a television series into a feature film. The Addams Family was very well cast, including Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci. A sequel, Addams Family Values, followed in 1993.


Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice was one of Tim Burton’s early films and it remains one of his best. The movie has an effective mix of scares and jokes and a memorable performance by Michael Keeton in the title role. Beetlejuice was so popular that it spawned a cartoon television series and a line of toys. However, parents should be aware that Beetlejuice is scarier and has a dirtier sense of humor than its PG rating indicates.


The ‘Burbs
The Burb’s was a satire of suburban paranoia in which the homeowners in a sleepy subdivision become convinced that their new neighbors are cannibals.


Evil Dead II
One of the great horror sequels is 1987’s Evil Dead II. The film is basically a remake of the original film but with much better production values and a more pronounced sense of humor. Director Sam Raimi was highly influenced by The Three Stooges and this movie is as funny as it is scary.


Fright Night
Fright Night concerns a teenager who suspects that his neighbor is a vampire. When no one believes him, the teen seeks the help of a local television personality. Fright Night was remade in 2011 and as remakes go it wasn’t bad.


The Frighteners
Before Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings he was primarily known for making schlocky horror titles like Bad Taste and Dead Alive. Just preceding his Middle Earth epic, Jackson made The Frighteners, a ghost story with a helping of comedy.


Ghostbusters
Perhaps the ultimate title in the horror-comedy niche is 1984’s Ghostbusters. The film tells the story of scientists who go into business as paranormal exterminators and it is one of the greatest comedies of all time. A sequel followed in 1989 and a reboot is scheduled for 2016.


Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors was originally a low budget Roger Corman picture released in 1960. The film was later turned into a successful stage musical which was then made into a feature film released in 1986. The ending of the theatrical version of the musical was altered to leave the film on a more upbeat conclusion but the blu-ray release includes both the original and theatrical versions of the film.  


Re-Animator
Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator was adapted from the novella by H.P. Lovecraft. The story is a contemporary reworking of Frankenstein and the film has an absurd sense of humor amid a lot of very icky body horror.


The Return of the Living Dead
The horror comedy had its heyday in the mid-to-late 1980s as filmmakers working in the horror genre saw the comic possibilities and made movies that were good campy fun. One of the major titles at the beginning of that trend was 1985’s The Return of the Living Dead. The film has a lot of broad humor as well as plenty of subtle in-jokes while also telling a sufficiently scary zombie outbreak story. This title is also the origin of zombies eating brains.


The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show paid tribute to many of the classic sci-fi and horror films of the 1940s and 50s in the midst of a bizarre musical. Although it was not successful in its initial release The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become the ultimate cult film.


Shaun of the Dead
The first film in Edgar Wright’s Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy (followed by Hot Fuzz and The World’s End) set the template for the director’s later work as it lampooned the zombie genre while also working as an example of the same. This is also the film that introduced Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to mainstream audiences.


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
The sequel to Tobe Hooper’s slasher movie masterpiece came twelve years after the original film. By that point the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was regarded as a classic and so when Hooper made the sequel many critics and fans hated it because it was so different. Like Evil Dead II, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a comic send up of the first movie and it has a brilliant Grand Guignol quality.


The Witches of Eastwick
Based on John Updike’s novel in which the devil moves to a small Rhode Island town and takes up with three women. Jack Nicholson plays the devil, who goes by the name Daryl Van Horne, and it’s among Nicholson’s most over-the-top performances.


Young Frankenstein
Mel Brooks’ 1974 feature Young Frankenstein parodied the classic Universal monster movies of the 1930s and 40s and Brooks considers it to be his best work as a writer and director. The film has since been adapted into a Broadway show.